Huntsville gazette., 1887-01-22

AOAoct AOAS dIo uOT0 1uCelllSeut dASs
teachable than those bred in confhe-
ment. The lion-tamer begins by taking
the feeding Of them into his own hands,
and so gets them to know him. He
commences feeding them from out
side the den, then ventures inside to
one at time, always carefully keeping
his face to the animal and avoiding any
violence, which is a mistake whenever
it can be avoided, as it arouses the dor
mant devil in the beasts. Getting to
handle the lion the tanner begins by
stroking him down the back, gradually
working up to the head, which he be-
gins to scratch, and the lion, which,
like the cat, likes friction, begins to
rub his head against the hand. When
this familiarity is well established
board is handed to the trainer, which he
places across the cage, and teaches the
lion to jump over it. Gradually this
board is heightened, the lion jumping
over it at every stage, and then come
the hoops, ETC., held on top of the
board to quicken the beasts under
standing. To teach the animal to jump
over the trainer the latter stoops along
side the board, so that when the lion
clears one he clears the other, and half
dozen lessons are generally sufficient
to teach him this. To get lion to
lie down and allow the trainer to stand
on him is more difficult. 1t is done by
Ticking the beast over the back with a
small whip and at the same time pressing
him down with one hand. By raising
the head and taking hold of the nostrils
with the right hand, and the under lip
and lower jaw with the left, the lion
loses greatly the power Of his jaws, so
that man can pull them open and put
his head inside the beasts mouth, the
feat with which Van Amburg's name
was SO much associated. The only
danger is less the animal should raise
one of his fore paws and stick his claws
into you, and if he does, the tanner
must stand fast for his life until he has
shifted his paw. Old lions are easier
handled than young ones, as they are
sure to be better trained. By the way,
did you ever hear the story Of Wal
lace's fight with the dogs? No. Well,
Wallace was an old lion belonging to
George Wombwell, the English men,
agerie man, and the old beast was as
tame as sheep. Well, Georges
finances were at low water and he
thought to advertise fight between
Wallace and dozen English mastiffs
would prove drawing card. And you
just bet it did. 1t took like wild fire,
and seats were sold for the performance
as high as twenty-five dollars apiece.
The house was packed and hundreds
couldn't get in. 1t was queer 60 and
no mistake. When they were put in the
cage the lion didn't care for the dogs
and the dogs didn't care for the lion.
Sometimes the old lion would scratch
lump out of dog, and sometimes the
dogs would make as if they were going
to worry the old lion, but neither
showed any serious fight, and at length
the patience of the audience got ex-
hausted, and they went away in dis
gust. Georges excuse was: "We
can't make 'em fight if they won't, can
we?" He cleared over ten thousand
dollars by that fight.
'Who were the leading lion-tamers
in those days? Well, there was old
Manchester Jack he was the first that
/ can remember. He was with Womb.
well, and was good as any. Then there
was Van Amburg, famous for the head
and mouth business. Crockett was one
Of the most daring l ever remember.
A den of lions got loose once and
Crockett jumped in among them-six Of
'em-and drove them back to the den
with only riding whip. Daniel
couldn't have made better showing
than that. Crockett came to America
with Howe & Cushing circus, and died
right here in Chicago. Then there were
the two Maccomos-one a dutfer and
the other the genuine article. The
'duffier's' real name was Jimmy Strand,
and he used to keep a gingerbread
stall; the good man was a nigger. 1t
is more dangerous for a black man than
white, if it be true, as they say, that
the beasts can nose black man and are
mad after the flavor of the flesh. These
are most of the leading lion kings | re-
member, but there have been others Of
less note. AS / have said, as rule,
drink ruins them all, and you can
hardly wonder at it.
Then, besides the lion kings, you
must remember that there have been
some famous lion queens, who have
been quite as daring, If not more SO,
than the lion kings. Women often do
more foolhardy deeds Of daring than
men, for this reason, / think, that they
don't sufficiently comprehend the
danger. - Chicago Herald.
John Cline, once celebrated rope.